Monday, October 16, 2006

Can We Share???

There are innovators in this world who seriously think in the power of one and the power of many , which essentially is the same. The Ideal Bite guys are one of them. They advocate very simple changes in our lifestyle, which will do so much good to our world. There is this small shoe company named Simple Shoes which believes in manufacturing shoes which are comfortable when you wear and pleasantly affordable. They are based in California, and they go all out to manufacture shoes with eco friendly materials and processes.Infact our hand -made paper industry is also one such example.Since I have this Banaras centric blog, where a majority of the population consist of economically backward people, I would recommend that we go and observe these people who exist on the fringes of the society. They are beavers , scavengers, rickshawpullers, professional blood donors, mobile fruit and vegetable sellers, milkmen(who bring the cattle to your doorstep to assure you the purity) and the innumerable invisible uncared for , but very important indispensable people.The empty bottles from Maggi Ketchup caress the money plants , which might be the only substantial thing to be referred as money in their lives. Used clothing are sewn into various mats, curtains and the table cloths, which is like a phoenix rising from the ashes. They are the most creative bunch of people I have ever seen. May be the destiny or the fate has its hand in them living the way they live, but it would be much better if we could exchange a bit of our abundant stuff with theirs. But, we have to carry all that to the next birth. So we will hang on to that. It is ironical that so many people go to Manikarnika Ghat , which is where the dead are burnt as per the Hindu rituals, while they carry their SLRs and and the Digital Archival Device(Camera dears), and return back to participate more vigorously in the exploits of the consumeristic mirage.I seriously hope that we learn something, myself included.P.S.I dedicate this post to Anvita, who has inspired me to resume blogging again. I read her blogs very often and she is active in more than one blog. I like her stuff. Thanks Anvita.